The Governor wanted teachers to make another $2,000 per year. The lawmakers settled on $1,000 so that they would be able to implement spending cuts in other parts of the fiscal plan for 2021. Terry England, who is the House Appropriations Chairman, said:
“To teachers, it’s not all about the money. It’s support services and wraparound services, not only in the classroom but in the community.”
Last year, the Governor told state agencies that they would have to cut their spending by 6% by the start of the 2021 fiscal year. This is in order for the legislative committee to be able to stay on track with the $28.1bn budget for 2021, which is up by $1bn from the previous year despite low tax collection revenue.
The increase comes from the proposed rise in teachers’ pay as well, as a 2% increase for state government employees and up to 5% more for agencies with high turnover rates. Government agencies would no doubt include the cost of printing services in their budget plans.
England defended the decision to cut the teachers’ pay rise by stating that teachers in Newnan will still be getting an 11.7% pay rise over two years.